Corbin Allred

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It's round umpteenzillion for the U.S. vs. Germany in Saints and Soldiers, yet another WWII film that aims to take you behind enemy lines and into the thick of battle.

Saints and Soldiers is lovingly produced on a small budget by Ryan Little, a young director who seems obsessed with WWII. The story is based on actual events in mid-December, 1944 in Belgium (at least as they are understood today) at the Battle of the Bulge. Americans are captured by the Germans, and when they try to escape, a number are gunned down. The handful of survivors escape into the woods and try to figure out how to get back to the Allies, made all the more important due to critical information held by a British officer they encounter along the way.

Kirk Douglas is a real trooper. He still looks darn good for eighty, and his resilience after suffering a debilitating stroke in 1996 is quite admirable. Unfortunately, he's the only thing really worth cheering about in Diamonds. In his first big-time Hollywood production, director John Asher has three major stars with Dan Aykroyd, Douglas, and the beautiful Lauren Bacall, but the newcomer fails to add anything truly novel to the hackneyed formula of an implausible treasure hunt that brings together an estranged family.

The story follows the life of Harry Agensky (Kirk Douglas), a former welterweight champion who is devastated by the one-two punch of the loss of his beloved wife and the after-effects of a stroke. Once known as the "Polish Prince," Harry is now faced with spending the rest of his life in a retirement home. But there is hope as, supposedly, fifty years ago he made a deal with a Reno mobster to throw a fight so that he could retrieve hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of diamonds... but he can't remember where they are hidden. Nobody will help Harry, and his visiting son Lance (Aykroyd) doesn't buy his father's fable about the fight and the diamonds, either. Lance is his dad's opposite, a super-sensitive San Jose Mercury News sports writer still trying to win over his old man. Ironically, Lance seems to have the same problems with his own son Michael (Corbin Allred - Anywhere But Here). When the three decide to go for broke and head to Reno, they clash hard and seem to fail every step of the way. However, what they lose in wealth they gain in insight, and finally discover they can't live apart.

"Diamonds" is a movie I feel guilty for panning because at its heart are the best of intentions and a pair of legendary actors.

A cliché-per-mile road movie with all the standard-issue accouterments (classic convertible, bonding between estranged relatives, a gambling stop in Nevada), the picture's main selling point is a snappy performance by Kirk Douglas, playing a grandfather who, like the actor himself, is recovering from a stroke.

The joy Douglas gets out of being back at work comes across in his character, a former welterweight champ determined not to be slowed down by his impediment, which manifests itself mostly in diminished motor skills and slightly slurred speech.